If you’re a fan of nautical nonsense, then this 21-foot, fully-custom, V8-powered beast is for you! It’s for sale here on eBay out of Tallapoosa, Georgia. Keep reading to see more!
We couldn’t find much of anything on Ronald Nordling from Idaho to tell you any back story, so we’ll just dig right into the meat-and-potatoes.
The seller tells us that Mr. Nordling was a hot rod builder and decided one day that he wanted a boat – not just ANY boat, though, something really special – and this is what he came up with. It runs a 468 cubic-inch Chevrolet engine, mated to a Powerglide with B&M shifter, and puts it all right into a Casale V-drive. It apparently also has a fire suppression system, cruise control, power inverter, and apparently many other features. We’re told that no expense was spared building it, and the current owner has done quite a bit of recent maintenance, such that it fires right up and makes quite an impression wherever it goes, on or off the water. Oh, and the trailer was apparently custom-built as well.
We can see in the pictures a very clean-looking hull and rigging, and while the engine compartment could use a tidying up, we bet this thing could really make a scene on any waterway. We see woodwork that suggests the current owner was right when he said that it has been garage-kept all of its life. That’s 21 feet of length and an 8-foot beam of pure watery wild-child!
I don’t know about you, nor do I know much about watercraft, but this thing looks absolutely insane to me! You probably wouldn’t need fishing gear to catch fish, just rev that big block a couple of times near the fish, and they’d vibrate right up to the boat for you!
So, what do you think? Do you know anything about Ronald Nordling that would help us shed some light on this boat’s history? Let us know in the comments!
Mike Finnegan of Roadkill would love this
I hate the water and never really wanted a boat- until now!
Living in So Cal, this was very common and is an antique “hot-rod-boat” at this point. Race boats are big thing here. Long ago, V-drives with automatic transmissions, prop shaft underneath, was hot rod boat tech. Alas, that is pretty much “dead” tech now. One reason is complication and weight. Secondly, the V-drive configuration means the prop and prop shaft is easily damaged. I have seen people, bend their prop shaft at the lake, just trying to get off the trailer. You can’t tilt it out of the way like a stern drive. If you like wake boarding, water sports, many will say this is still the way to go, it gives the best wake. Dedicated ski boats still use prop shafts with a mid engine configuration. It you want a trouble free, easy maintenance boat, this isn’t it.
Well from what i see its not that big of a deal . As a matter a fact as it being a custom boat as stated is to be seen cause it looks to me to be a stock motor nothing big to brag about and with it having a vacuum secondary 4 barrel carb on it is definitly not the way to go with a boat motor that is for a the streets ,cause in a boat you rely on all the fuel you can push into the motor for rpms and power so thats one thing i see , and then as far as custom well you can say custom re hubilitated cause it looks like its a boat that had its deck redone and maybe for multiple reasons . For the buyer id really look this one over in my opinion . the hull and the top deck just doesnt go together to me .
Looks like they just removed the fiberglass top deck and built a ‘custom’ wood deck, that’s about the extent of the custom work, oh and maybe the wood slat floor too.
You are so wrong! The boat frames are all mohogony and the deck was covered in 1/4 ply then 5/16″ red oak planks laminated over. The hull is home built. The entire boat is home built!
I have ridden in that boat. It was over 20 years ago. Ron also had a black 69 Mach 1 that was in a magazine back in the 90s. If he’s still alive he’s probably close to 80 by now. He lived in Boise but out of respect for him I won’t say any more. It’s been 20+ years since I’ve talked to him.
There is a reason boats are referred to as “holes in the water where you throw money” and this appears to exemplify the saying.
For those interested, the bidding is at $7600 and the reserve is not yet met.
Very good looking with seasoned wood from what I can tell. Had a landlord back in the late 60’s I rented from that had a 18′ or 19′ ski boat that he put a 426 Max Wedge into it. That thing could haul butt it had the power. One thing he did that paid off, got rid of the 3 blade prop and went with a 2 blade (don’t know the details on pitch etc. on them) and top end picked up. That thing was thirst with two 4 barrel carbs on it, but it sure could haul.
I have never heard of going backwards in number of blades. Usually go from three blade to four blades, drop two inches of pitch and add a cup. A two bladed prop at those speeds would shake your teeth out. Two bladed props are found on sailboats – and airplanes.
Can’t tell you why as I was just the grunt when it came to working on that thing. I do know part of the reason for the prop change was Steve had damaged the prop shaft (put a twist in it) with the 3 blade apparently from the racing he did with it. I knew little about boats (still don’t know much about them) but I really enjoyed helping on that beast of an engine. Strangest thing was when to gain a little more speed, he pulled the low and reverse gears out of the gearbox in it so it had high only. Again he seemed to know what he was going and it picked up a little more speed.
Racing model aeroplanes as I used to do, less blades is better. Three blades means two running in dirty air, two blades means one running in dirty air, etc. We all used one blades back then but today’s trend is two blade again!
I’ve ridden in the boat. It’s all wood and exactly as described by the seller. I seriously considered buying it, but it would be too much boat for the lake I’d use it on.
Very good looking with seasoned wood from what I can tell. Had a landlord back in the late 60’s I rented from that had a 18′ or 19′ ski boat that he put a 426 Max Wedge into it. That thing could haul butt as it had the power. One thing he did that paid off, got rid of the 3 blade prop and went with a 2 blade (don’t know the details on pitch etc. on them) and top end picked up. That thing was thirsty with two 4 barrel carbs on it, but it sure could haul.
Even Cleaver props are three blade.
I don’t really know a lot about boats, but this looks like a bigger money pit than my plane.
Ah well, to each his own.
Guaranteed to blow your toupee right into the intake cowl!
This is my boat, if interested you can contact me at Jamesmuse0180@gmail.com
I am the owner of this boat, if you are interested in buying it or would like more details, feel free to email me at Jamesmuse0180@gmail.com